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8 Jun 16

15°C > 16°C Low cloud threatening to break but never did. Light NW wind. Moderate visibility at best and hazy again

(57th visit of the year)

Notes
- no sign of the Mallard duckling: many of the Mallard seemed to be hiding
- no sign of the brood of Moorhens either
- and, to complete the trio, new brood of Coot not seen either! However there were many more Coots out and about on the water (and at least 2 on nests)
- more warblers heard this morning

Notes
- probably the same 1st year Black-headed Gull present throughout and again reluctant to move, though seemed alert-enough when it did
- the Pochard and all the Tufted Ducks gone – where?
- the lone Coot juvenile seen is now well-grown but still only emerges from the reeds very sporadically
- in contrast to The Flash where there were more Swifts and House Martins than usual I saw just one Swallow and heard House Martin(s) just once while I was in a wooded area
- 2 Pied Wagtails seen flying off in hot pursuit of a departing Buzzardand
- at least 2 Silver-ground Carpet moths
- Common Blue and Blue-tailed Damselflies noted this morning
- my first Episyrphus balteatus (marmalade hoverfly) of the year
- a dead mole!
- noted some Woody Nightshade or Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara)

Here is the 1st year Black-headed Gull, apparently here for its second day and rather reluctant to move.

... when it did it seemed to do so without any problem and looked alert.

A smart-looking male Greenfinch on the wires of the yacht club compound.

I know I only did this a few days ago but they are so photogenic – Common Whitethroat.

And again: note the length of the hind claw wrapped around the fence.

This seems to be a female Black Snipe fly (Chrysopilus cristatus).

Looks rather like a dead spider to me ...

An alternative view of Common stretch-spider, Tetragnatha extensa.

This seems to be the Crane Fly, Phylidorea ferruginea which, though common, seems to have no vernacular name.

This is a female Blue-tailed Damselfly: these come in a number of colour forms, this one with an olive-green thorax is given the name ‘infuscans’.

This female, a bit obscured, shows the form ‘infuscans-obseleta’.

This is the so-called Marmalade Hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus. Here we see all the marking clearly.

Moments later it, rather unusually, closed its wings and the identification markings are hard to discern.

The flowers of Woody Nightshade or Bittersweet, Solanum dulcamara are now out on the dam. The berries are poisonous though would only be fatal in small children. The common name of Bittersweet hints that the taste would likely deter most children from eating too many.

And now for something rather different. I found this mole dead on the lead-in to one of the fishing platforms.

I rolled it over so we can see the snout, the mouth-parts and the paddle-shaped claws it uses for digging its tunnels.